COVID pandemic subcommittee to hold hearing on alleged lab leak in China
WASHINGTON – A House subcommittee investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic will hold a hearing next week that looks designed to echo revived accusations of an accidental leak from a virus research lab in China.
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic said Wednesday that its March 8 hearing will feature Dr. Robert Redfield, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – and a long-time proponent of the disputed theory that the COVID virus came from an accident at a lab in Wuhan, China.
The investigation:House Oversight subcommittee to investigate COVID-19 origins and Wuhan lab funding
"This investigation must begin with where and how this virus came about so that we can attempt to ‘predict, prepare, protect, or prevent’ it from happening again," said Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, chairman of the subcommittee.
Lab leak or natural causes?
House Republicans scheduled the hearing in the wake of news reports that the Energy Department now believes – with "low confidence" – that the COVID pandemic began with an unintentional lab leak in Wuhan, China.
The Energy Department case:Energy Department finds COVID-19 most likely emerged from lab leak, reports say: What we know
The FBI case:COVID-19 pandemic 'most likely' started in Wuhan lab, FBI Director Christopher Wray says
Asked about the Energy Department's assessment, FBI Director Chris Wray told Fox News that "the FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan."
Other government officials said there is no consensus on the origins of COVID. Many still believe it jumped from animals to humans at a food market in Wuhan.
The Fauci Factor
In announcing the hearing, Wenstrup said members may also criticize government officials who have disputed the lab leak theory. That group includes Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
While not mentioning names, Wenstrup said that "government scientists and government funded researchers have so far been less-than-forthcoming in their knowledge and actions, including work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and potential pandemic pathogens."
Long a political target of Republicans, Fauci told the Boston Globe this week that "we may not ever know" the real origin of the virus, and that people should keep "an open mind" about the theories that are out there.
He cited other evidence that “rather strongly suggests it was a natural occurrence."
Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the COVID subcommittee, said lawmakers should try to get to the bottom of the lab dispute by relying on facts and science. “This must be done without politicization, extreme partisan rhetoric, and conspiratorial accusations that vilify our nation’s public health experts,” he said
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID pandemic subcommittee to hold hearing on alleged China lab leak
